Garrotted By The Knot

 

This was the return match against The Knot, currently jostling with the Puss Heads for the number 1 spot in the League (awaiting formal results).

The Phoenix were without their top-scoring member Bob but were confident of victory by calling on their mascot Rosie. Sadly Rosie was out for walkies, and we had to call on our second-string mascot Rah, Nick’s son.

The Knot on the other hand demonstrated their strength in depth by allowing Brian (who did so well in Mastermind recently) to help the question-master with the scoring and to take no part in the team.

The specialist rounds had some out-of-the-ordinary questions, in particular a spelling bee that was a severe test of memory without a spellchecker to help! It was a keenly fought contest and at the end of the specialist rounds it was level pegging at 42 each. The General Knowledge were equally challenging and it was here that The Knot’s strengths were brought to the fore as they strode ahead to beat us by over 30 points (see link at right for the questions). This is brought into even higher relief by the number of pass-over points they picked up (see below).

Individual points were: 

Rah 3/0, Wendy 6/9, Nick 12/9 and Tomo 6/9; conferred points were 10/15 with 5/6 pass-overs. The knot on the other hand gathered 6/18 pass-overs!!! Final score was 90 for the Phoenix to 122 for The Knot.

Rah’s score is not an accurate reflection of his contribution – as a beginner in the quiz he was rather over-cautious on his own questions but was extremely useful in all the conferred discussions. We look forward to his participation again in the future. 

Well done to the Knot – worthy winners in a good-humoured game and we wish them well in the title race.

The evening was rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches – thank you Brian and Tracey. We do not blame the excellent selection of beers for the defeat although it was the Phoenix drinking the Easy Rider, whilst The Knot acted it out.

24th March - Question Masters

This week it was the turn of the Phoenix to ask the questions in the B League. It is amazing that the questions can be scrutinised by both teams (the Church House Sutton set the Specialist) and then on the night you are confronted by something that is so obviously wrong and you thought you had removed it (Winter Q6); that, and the fact that one question was omitted altogether (GK76). Apologies for that.

Other than that, it seems the questions were regarded as balanced if rather obscure - the results will tell a truer story when published.

Nick covered the Pack Horse Bowling Club, the new home of The Baths team following the pub's closure. It is a very large and comfortable building selling Hyde's ales that are well kept and it is good that the quiz team found this haven. Other teams in the League can help them stay there by taking advantage of the bar giving good reason for the quiz team always to be made welcome. Perhaps with time the Club will go so far as to provide refreshments that are currently provided by the team themselves.

Comments below from other teams are welcome, if with some trepidation.

EXORCISM AT THE CHURCH HOUSE

The demons of the Phoenix (to win every game in the second half of the season) were decisively rooted out by the Church house Bollington. It was all prophet and big loss.

The Church House is a highly respected pub with a good reputation for food; there were three real ales on the bar including the almost-local Beartown Kodiak Gold - most welcome. It has had some ups and downs over the past couple of years but has now settled down with a firm customer base - and a very strong quiz team.

The questions by the Ox-FFord were very good indeed and will no doubt see some big scores this week - including the Phoenix; the Specialist rounds saw some new ideas (see link at right) but just did not fall the Phoenix' way - by the half-way mark the Church House were winning by 87 to 54!! We've never been so far behind at this stage before.

The General Knowledge questions saw a more even contest but the Phoenix were unable to make up the deficit with a final score of 182 to 147 - the Phoenix tally of 147 is enough to win most weeks but the Church House were so enthusiastic  about winning points they even started to answer the Phoenix' questions at one stage!

The departed spirits were soon replaced with a selection of sandwiches, pork pies and sausage rolls and the Phoenix returned home bloodied, de-spirited but unbowed.

Individual scores were Bob 15/24, Wendy 9/18, Nick 9/18 and Tomo 9/15; conferred points were 10/15 and a wretched 2/5 passovers shows the strength of the home team who garnered 9/8 passovers.

A great game by the Church House - well done!!

Third Meeting With The Plough - this time at home

Getting rather incestuous this! The return match with the Plough in the League, we played them in the Cup and Granville has asked the questions at the Tavern the previous two weeks. A great bunch with equal amounts of knowledge and humour but this time we had our mascot Rosie!

The Specialist questions were set by The George & Dragon with some new twists on the rounds, in particular the History and Geography - see link at right.

However, although the Phoenix enjoyed the questions and marked them quite highly, there were no big scores - in fact at the end of the Specialist the Phoenix were trailing by 51 to 42 and Nick had scored 0!! So it was with some trepidation that the Phoenix settled down for the General Knowledge questions.

Our fears were justified - it is hard to believe that the laid-back and friendly guys we had met only  the previous week could produce such a set of questions - is it really the same team? By question 20, two questions were already vying for the title of the most ridiculous of the season: would it be "What is the fastest ever recorded speed of someone travelling on a jet-powered skateboard?" (Q5) or "What is macropocide?" (Q19) - if anyone is interested the answer to the second one is the killing of kangaroos!!!

Nevertheless, the questions allowed the Phoenix to slowly make up the difference and gradually overtake the Plough eventually finishing with 114 to 93 - it is a sad irony that the questions that we judged very harshly and gave (for the first time I can remember) 0 marks were what allowed the Phoenix to save the day.

Wendy continued with her strong performance this season, with Tomo scoring a good 24 but otherwise the questons just did not fall our way.

Individual scores were Bob 6/3, Wendy 9/12, Nick 0/9 and Tomo 9/15; conferred points were 10/15 with passovers 8/18. The Plough picked up just 6/5 passovers evidence of very strong team work by the Phoenix.

A fine spread of sandwiches rounded off the evening - thank you Brian and Tracey

3rd March - The Cup Quarter Finals

For the quarter final of the Cup, we were drawn against The Albion currently top in the C League with John Hargreaves the top scorer in the individual merits. It certainly would not be The Fall of Albion as foreseen by William Blake (Albion dancing aside).

Steve was making a welcome appearance in Wendy's absence and for the second week running the genial question master was Granville from The Plough Taverners.

The questions were quite good but the importance of balance meant there were a large number of follow-on questions - i.e. consecutive questions taking the same form. (See link at right)

Since all questions were conferrred there are no individual scores, and the Phoenix managed to win most of the six rounds with a small margin. Final score was 102 to 82, a well-fought contest.

This means that the Phoenix will now go forward to the semi-final to play one of the teams from the Ox-Fford or The Dolphin who are towering above the rest in the A League - bring it on!!

A well-lubricated evening ended with a lovely selection of sandwiches - thank you Brian and Tracey.

24th Feb - Home to the Puss Heads

We knew this was going to be a tough one - the Puss Heads top of the League and with a huge total points lead.

The Phoenix were intent on not letting the visitors get any passovers and played very cautiously - probably a little too cautiously.  There were no moments of high drama and Nick refrained from his usual faux pas - there were a couple of Specialist questions he should have got but his usual problem with names meant they were conferred.

Except for Wendy's magnificent equalling of her PB it was a low-scoring game but the Phoenix played solidly as a team managing to get 27 conferred points of which maybe 3 or 4 could/should have been 3's.

No complaints about the questions that were balanced, but there was some confusion at the end of the game when the question master's scoring was challenged and several questions were rerun. Eventually it was decided that the visitors won by 121 to 120.

Individual scores were Bob 6/12, Wendy 15/15, Nick 0/12 and Tomo 3/15 - conferred points were 12/15 and passovers 9/7; The Artists picked up 9/9 passovers. 

The evening was rounded off with a generous selection of sandwiches - thank you Brian and Tracey

The Cock - But No Bull

A return match against the Cock (a Robbie's pub outside town) and this was bound to be a close call. 

Bob of the Phoenix and Jackie of The Cock were tied for second place in the individual scores and they each had something to prove. Moreover the Phoenix were again without a mascot and Bob's daughter had still not produced her baby. The tension!!

 At the end of the specialist  rounds the Phoenix were a nose ahead with 47 against The Cock's 44; The Cock kept up the pressure in the General Knowledge questions just losing by 67 points to 66. Final score was 114 to 110 to the Phoenix. A very close and most enjoyable match.

Nick had learned the lessons from previous mistakes and this time thought about his answers instead of blurting out the first thing that came into his head; so when asked "Which crime-fighting duo had the first names Christine and Mary-Beth?" he scratched the inside of his skull for the answer eventually coming up with that little-known series Cagney and Makepeace!!! The groans could have been heard at the Tavern!

We felt the questions were pretty good and balanced even though the two question setters had not been able to vet each others' questions.

Bob and Wendy continued to get high scores with Bob easing in front of Jackie in the individual merits; individual scores were Bob 15/15, Wendy 9/15, Tomo 9/6 and Nick 6/9. Conferred points were 2/17 and passovers 6/5. The Cock picked up 7/3 passovers.

A very pleasant evening with a good selection of sandwiches - perfectly rounded off just before midnight with Bob's daughter giving birth to a baby daughter.

A good night all round.

The Baths Are Empty ...

... but the quiz team remains buoyant.

Yes, The Baths pub is one of the casualties of the financial crisis and its doors have closed. 

The quiz team however continues and last night The Ox-Fford were good enough to allow us to use that pub as neither of their two teams was playing at home. The team are continuing their search for a new venue. It was good to be back in the Ox-Fford with memories of our sojourn in the A League, and there was a selection of Jennings and Wychwood beers that were welcome.

The Phoenix were under some pressure - not only were both mascots missing, but Bob's daughter is about to go into labour which was something of a distraction.

The questions by the Oxford C we thought were very good (see link at right) and the twist on the picture round (nations' flags in black and white) was certainly different.

The Baths raced ahead to an early lead of about 13 and at the end of the Specialist were ahead by 51 to 43. The Phoenix fought hard to get back and managed to win the General Knowledge by 76 to 75 the final score being 126 to 119 in favour of the Baths. It was a very hard-fought game and very few points were given away - no complaints, well done The Baths. The able and affable question master was Brian from The Knot.

Individual scores were Bob 15/12, Wendy 9/18, Nick 3/15 and Tomo 6/9; conferred points were 7/17, passovers 3/5 with The Baths picking up 9/5 passovers.

Well done The Baths and thankyou very much to the Ox-Fford who prepared a plate of varied sandwiches that were very welcome.

February 4th - Home To The Puss Artists

A first meeting with the Puss Artists, the second team from the Puss In Boots, who had a bad start to the season losing the first three games but who have made steady progress since, winning the subsequent four.

 Our mascot Rosie was back again but seemed to take more interest in the radiator pipe under the seats than the game itself.

 It was a very tight game with the Artists showing the wide range of knowledge that has brought them such good fortune. It was made even tighter with two of the Specialist rounds being out of the ordinary, Round 3 in particular  allowed Tomo to display his encyclopaedic knowledge of daytime TV. The other unusual round was a picture round. The challenge enabled two of the Phoenix (Wendy and Tomo) to attain personal bests for the season and Bob put in a very steady 27. Nick unfortunately once again showed off his loose canon trick on two questions that a moment’s thought would have given three points rather than 1 to the Artists. Rosie was in danger of being dragged from her warm spot to be replaced by Nick.

 However there were some questions that caused some comment, in particular:

  1. A question about the width of the standard gauge asked for the nearest inch – but gave the answer with a fraction of an inch and no leeway shown. (GK Q13)

2. The first name of Dubya Bush’s younger brother was requested with the answer shown as Jeb (or maybe Jed - apparently they are interchangeable) but in any case his first names are John Ellis. (See Round 8 Q3)

 For both these questions and throughout the quiz the question master stuck strictly to the rules and insisted on the answer shown, similarly with time-keeping. We felt he did a very good job indeed. The responsibility for both difficulties lies with the vetting, as did the imbalance of questions in the General Knowledge.

 Final scores were Bob 6/21, Wendy 15/15, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 15/15; conferred points were 5/18 with Passovers giving 6/3. The Artists got 10/6 passovers.

 The evening finished with a splendid supper of sausages, onions, chips and bread and butter. Thank you Brian and Tracey.

A Close Shave At The Plough

Once again the Phoenix were at The Plough, this time in the knock-out Cup/Plate competition (See Week 4 2nd December). And The Plough were out to avenge their close defeat at the previous meeting.

Once again there were serious distractions - Manchester United were playing West Bromwich Albion and Macclesfield were playing top of the League Wycombe; to compound the problems the Phoenix were without either of their lucky mascots.

It was a keenly-fought match with the lead swapping from one to the other team with pretty good questions. There was lots of laughter and fun and The Phoenix eventually scraped through with 66 points to The Plough's 64.

The game ended with a splendid assortment of sandwiches and particularly a bowl of pickled onions. Excellent!!!

Oh and United won 5-0 and Macc achieved a goalless draw.

Home To The George & Dragon

Good to be back home for the quiz this week with an amazing selection of fine real ales to bolster our efforts.

This was to be a very interesting week as the standings from last week show that there were 4 teams tied for 3rd place - including the Phoenix and the George & Dragon.

Our opponents have been friends and adversaries over many years and the game was bound to be good-humoured and fun.

There was a major change in the Phoenix side - Nick's son was dropped as the team mascot and replaced by Wendy's Jack Russell Rosie. Sadly this did little to improve Nick's performance - last week he confused Scotland and Ireland, this week he surpassed himself confusing Dvorak's New World Symphony with Holst's Planets Suite. There is serious consideration being given to replacing him with Rosie.

The Specialist questions (see link at right) showed a lot of thought and ingenuity with rounds that were not at all familiar (i.e. not the usual textbook questions) and it was a keenly fought battle with the Phoenix eventually finishing ahead by just one point at 51/50.

General Knowledge were not quite as good but were well received and allowed the Phoenix to pull slowly ahead, mainly led by Bob's brilliant score of 39. Final score was 140 to 126.

Individual scores were Bob 18/21, Wendy 9/18, Nick 3/15 and Tomo 6/15, conferred 10/16, passovers 5/4 and the G&D picked up 9/5 passovers.

A very pleasant evening with the Bollington Church House question masters taking part in the fun. Many thanks to Brian and Tracey for a superb spread of sandwiches.

13th Jan - Choked by The Knot

The Phoenix braved the Cheshire-Staffordshire border and its multiple speed traps to play away at The Knot in Rushton Spencer. We were met by a roaring fire giving out enormous heat and a very friendly team that has done extremely well over the last two seasons. Three real ales were available (Jennings, Black Sheep and Bombardier) which is always welcome.

The Specialist questions were very well received and although there were no big scores someone answered just about every question, and there was very little to choose between the two teams. It was clear that a lot of thought and imagination had gone into the questions  and at the end the scores were 37 to the Phoenix and 38 to the home team.

The General Knowledge were less well received but that is not the reason The Knot began to nose ahead to eventually finish 122 to 108.

Final individual scores were Bob 9/12, Wendy 6/15, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 3/12, Conferred points 10/15, Passovers 7/7 whilst The Knot picked up 6/7 passovers.  The knot is a very strong team ably captained by Brian Bogie whom many of us admired on Mastermind a few weeks ago.

A very tight and most enjoyable game rounded off with a generous selection of sandwiches.

An Epiphany

January 6th saw the valiant members of the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League battling through ice and snow to play their games.

It was the turn of the Phoenix to ask the questions in the B League in Rushton Spencer (The Knot), Bollington (Church House) and in town the Plough and Puss In Boots.

The results will have to await the News and Views (see link at right) but the questions (see link) were very well received in Bollington  and the Specialist rounds especially gained high scores. In the General Knowledge there was some discussion about a couple of questions which were substituted by Supplementaries: Q34 as it was unclear if the question meant mainland Scotland or the islands, and Q48 that should have referred to the Liberal Democrats not the Liberals.

The evening was rounded off with a splendid selection of sandwiches, pork pies and hot pizza - many thanks.

All the question masters from the B League report that the questions were well judged.

9th February Home to The Church house Bollington

We were pleased to welcome the Church House Bollington to the Tavern following their promotion from the C League last year. It is a team that has been around for some years with many changes – both to the team and to the Church House itself!

The Phoenix won the toss and opted to go first in the Specialist rounds. Sadly the toss was about the only thing we won on the night.

The Specialist rounds were very obscure, reflected in the scoring (conferred and Passovers not included):

Round                        Phoenix                      Church House

 

Sport                                    0                                 3

Geography                         0                                 3

History                                3                                 0

Science                                6                                  6

Arts & Entertainment   6                                  0

Lest We Forget                   0                                  6

Music                                   6                                   6

Answer Lies In The Soil  9                                    6

 

In each of the first three rounds, only one person managed to score a 3 – the purpose of the quiz is not to show how clever the question setter is!

The Specialist were better but were sometimes irritating with attempted “balance” i.e. consecutive questions on capitals, castles etc.

 

At the end of the Specialist, Phoenix were trailing by 10 points and although they made up some of the gap the final score was 112 to 107 to the Church House.

 Individual scores were: 

Bob 6/12, Wendy 6/15, Nick 6/9 and Tomo 12/6. Conferred points were 6/5 with 13/11 passovers. The Church House picked up 11/11 passovers. A very high number of passovers that sheds some light on the questions.

 No complaints about the winners – it was a keen game in a relaxed atmosphere and the Church House questions were no easier than those of the Phoenix – well done.!!

Once again there was serious distraction from another sporting event - this time of even greater import!! The Waters Green Ladies' Darts team!! You don't mess with them!!

 The Phoenix were able to draw comfort from the roaring fire and hefty sandwiches provided by Brian. A very pleasant evening.

 

P.S. It must be emphasised that the above comments are those of just one member of one team and it will be interesting to see the reactions of others,

Week 4 2nd December

The first snows of the winter saw the Phoenix making their way to The Plough, a well-established pub with a quiz team well-known and respected from their previous home at The Cricket Club.

Once again there was a sporting diversion with the Burnley v. Arsenal cup tie being televised and, more importantly, Macclesfield playing away to top of the League Wycombe.

The four draught ales available however provided more interest than the TV and the game proceeded smoothly.

The Specialist questions (see link at right) were much appreciated and lent themselves to the Phoenix as they crept ahead to a 51 to 37 lead. In particular the rounds on old toys and symbols were original and interesting.

The General Knowledge questions allowed the Plough Taverners to stage a comeback but finished with a close score of 61 to 63 to the Phoenix. This also saw a first in the Quiz League with Nick scoring absolutely nothing!! A very lonely furrow at the Plough!

 Final scores were Bob 12/12, Wendy 3/18, Nick 9/0 tut tut!!! And Tomo 9/12. Conferred points gave the Phoenix 11/15 and Passovers 7/6. The Plough Passovers scored 6/11. Final overall score 114 to the Plough 98. Tasty sandwiches were very welcome before stepping back into the cold after a very pleasant evening.

Oh, Burnley won 2-0!! But Macc lost 4-0 – can’t win ‘em all!

First Round of the Cup

This week saw the first round of the knock-out competitions Cup and Plate (for those knocked out of the Cup competition in the first full round).

The Phoenix were at full strength and were drawn against the Chester Road Tavern; this is a team we have often met over the years in a friendly pub selling real ales. There is a strong interest in sport in the pub so there are several TV screens to cover various sporting events.

Unfortunately the night of the quiz coincided with two minor events involving Manchester United (against Villarreal) and Celtic (against Aalborg). It would seem that these lesser events were of more interest to the regulars than the quiz and at times audibility was rather difficult.

The questions (see link aside) were set by the Ox-fford C and The Church House Bollington and thought to be of a high standard; the Phoenix managed to win each of the six sets of 20 but only by a narrow margin and the final score of 109 to 83is rather misleading as to how close the two teams were.

A very pleasant evening was rounded off by a selection of tasty sandwiches, black pudding and pork pies. Much appreciated. And although United did not score they go through to the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Puss Heads no Pussy Cats!!

The Puss Heads moved this season to join the Puss Artists at the Puss In Boots pub on the Buxton Road. They are old friends having spent many years at the St Dunstan in Langley before moving briefly closer to town prior to this latest move.

The pub is very comfortable with large rooms and whilst good food is served it does not overshadow the fact that this is a pub; well-kept real ale is on sale (Brains inter al) and the staff are friendly and helpful.

The quiz was hotly contested with questions generally thought to be different and good. The Puss Heads had a small lead at the end of the Specialist rounds (51 to 45) and neither side gave much away in the General Knowledge. However the Puss Heads slowly pulled away with a finishing score of 130 to 111 - worthy winners in a well-fought contest.

Individual scores were Bob 12/9, Wendy 9/15, Nick 6/18 and Tomo 6/6; conferred points (demonstrating good team work) were 6/14 whilst passed-over questions from the home team gave just 6/4. Passovers to the home team gave them 7/7.

Well done the Puss Heads - no complaints - they were good.

The evening was rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches.

The Phoenix Rises

Despite having good scores, the Wonderers narrowly missed promotion last season; undeterred, they gave notice of intent with a change of name to the Waters Green Phoenix.

Then if there is no promotion this season they will drown their sorrows with beer from the brewery of the same name.

They started well with two home games each with excellent support from a reserve.

Game 1 was against The Baths, old friends and adversaries with a lot of experience in the League. This was a taut and highly contested game with what are generally thought to be very tough questions set by The Knot and Chester Rd Tavern (see link at right). The Phoenix were a nose ahead at the end of the Specialist rounds, but The Baths came back fighting hard and the final result was a narrow victory to the Phoenix with 111 points to 108.  It is good to report that three of the team scored 21 points each and 27 valuable points were scored with conferred questions. Just 16 were passed over.

 

Game 2 was again against a familiar team from The Cock at Henbury with both sets of questions set by the Harrington Academicals generally thought to be very good. Again the scores were very good with Bob getting 36, Tomo 30, Wendy 24 and Tony 21 – final score 155 to 111. Coincidentally conferred points were again 27 with 17 passed over to The Cock.

New Season 2008/9

As the cold winds and heavy rain of the summer gave way to the darker, colder winds and heavier rain of autumn mysterious figures shuffled out of the bleak, black night of Macclesfield into the welcoming arms of the Weavers. Yes the Macclesfield Quiz League was shuffling off the sloth of summer and getting into prime condition as the AGM heralded the start of another season.

First off was the Plate final which pitted the Principals against the Knot – the former is a long-established team with a healthy record in the A League for many years whereas the Knot have had a remarkably strong first season coming top of the C League winning promotion to the B League and getting to the final of the Plate.

As usual the question master was Rick Davies who conducted the question with a fine blend of authority and humour.

The Knot put up a spirited performance but in the end the experience of the Principals won through.

I hope to publish the questions at a later date.

All was not bad news through the summer – once again the Wonderers had their annual end of season party celebrating with Indian food, music by Steve and Tomo’s miraculous conjuring tricks. As usual Nick had chosen one of summer’s few fine days (well in advance!) and the team’s numbers were swollen by friends.

To greet the new season and express their intentions, the team will be known as the Waters Green Phoenix (we can always fall back on the name of the brewery!)

22nd April - Belated report

The final match of the season, Nick was swanning around in Spain and Wendy was struck down by some fearful disease and could not play. Eric once again stepped into the breech and after running up a hefty telephone bill Bob managed to get Dave, one of his mates to play - apparently he was more interested in drinking the real ale in the Waters Green Tavern than the quiz itself.
There was much to play for - not only were the Wonderers fighting to stay in the top half of the League but both Bob and Tomo were neck and neck in the individual scores and it was every man for himself.
At the end of the Specialist rounds, the Wonderers were a nose in front with 51 against the Plough Taverners' 43; the gap grew wider in the general knowledge with the Wonderers' 90 to 63 by the Plough Taverners - a final score of 141 to 106.

Tomo managed to beat Bob in the individuals with a hefty 36 to Bob's 27; Dave gave the lie to the malicious suggestion he was only there for the beer with a magnificent 21 on his debut appearance whilst Eric scored his personal best with a solid 18.

The questions (see link at right) were very good indeed - a fine way to end the season!

Calling All Quizzers

Well, the end of the season is upon us and through the summer months Macclesfield will see Tuesday nights transformed as the streets are filled with sandalled and bearded men in woolly cardigans shuffling through the town with dazed expressions on their faces - what to do on a Tuesday evening?

But all is not lost - to break up the out-of-season dullness the East Cheshire Hospice has arranged a quiz to brighten those bleak summer evenings. Details can be found here

http://www.eastcheshirehospice.org.uk/default.asp?id=94

Most quiz team members will have had personal experience of the hospice and the magnificent work that they do and will no doubt wish to show their appreciation and support by entering a team on 27th June - not only a quiz but supper is also included.

So for a fun evening and fund-raising for a truly wonderful institution in the town let's see how many teams we can bring together - but you have to be quick. The Wonderers tried to muster a team last year but were too late with their entry form - don't let it happen to you. Entry forms are available at the above link.

So get your applications in for a great evening and raise funds for a really worthy charitable institution - the East Cheshire Hospice.

See you there!!

Refurbished Harrington Fails To Put A Shine on Wonderers

The Harrington Arms in Gawsworth, just outside town, is a charming Queen Anne building frequently described as the best pub in Cheshire. Until recently it was a part of a working farm and until her death some years ago was run by the fiercely independent Mrs Bayley who fought a running battle with Robinson's Brewery and their attempts to modernise the pub (i.e. install handpumps etc.). After her death the pub was open but its future uncertain until recently when a new manager took over. The pub has been renovated whilst retaining its charm with lighter paint on the walls and the old 20 watt light bulb replaced with a brighter one.

There are two quiz teams based at the pub and the fortunes of the Harrington Academicals mirror the changes taking place at the pub - at the start of last night's game they were in an unassailable 2nd position and guaranteed promotion to the A League. But this did not lead to any relaxation in their combativeness.

They stormed into an early lead with the specialist questions at the end of which the Wonderers were trailing by 23 points (67 to 44). The General Knowledge brought about a change of fortunes, but the visitors were unable to close the massive gap, finishing with the same margin of 23 points (147 to 124).

The questions were fine, especially the Specialist into which a lot of thought and ingenuity had gone (see link at right).

Bob and Tomo put in excellent performances fully justifying their positions in the top 10 scorers of the League (see the News & Views link at right), individual scores being Bob 15/18, Wendy 3/12, Nick 6/3 (pathetic!) and Tomo 9/27. The conferred and passed over points tell their own story - in the Specialist we got 9 and 2 respectively, whilst the home team picked up 8/11. The visitors did a little better in the General Knowledge with 11/9 against 13/7.

An excellent dish of sandwiches finished off the evening and we wish the Academicals every success next year in the A League. Thanks and best wishes to the new landlady of the Harrington.

Back In The Swim With The Baths

This week we played at home to The Baths - old friends and adversaries.

The Baths went storming into the lead on the Specialist questions and the Wonderers were soon trailing by something like 20 points. However, they proved to be strong finishers towards the end of the Specialist and eventually pulled back to 47 points against the Baths' 54.

Chastened, the Wonderers played steadily with very few wasted points eventually picking up a total of 128 to the visitors' 116. Individual scores were Bob 12/15, Wendy 9/12, Nick 6/15 and Tomo 6/12. Conferred points were 8/12, and passovers 8/9; significantly the Baths got an astonishing 26 passovers, 15 from the Specialist rounds where the Wonderers really struggled.

Despite not knowing the answers we thought the questions were imaginative and interesting and marked them highly.

An inexperienced Louise from The Lamb was question master and carried her duties with aplomb and good humour. A pleasant evening out.

Stuffed By The Cock

Getting very consistent now - all the teams we beat in the first half of the season are now beating us. This time it was the turn of The Cock who played us at home. And despite the advantage of the home crowd the Wonderers once again managed to come second.

We thought the questions were pretty good, no quibbles about blanace and so on - in fact there is no excuse.

Individual scores were pretty good: Bob 15/12, Wendy 12/15, Nick 12/9, tomo 15/12 conferred 8/12, passovers 8/9. All in all pretty good - 20 points won on confers, and 17 with passovers. The Cock scored: conferred 12/3 passovers 15/11 - we gave them 26 points despite conferring well!!

Even mid-table is not looking secure now! Following the link at right for the questions.

REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

Again, the full team, playing on our home turf with home support - oozing confidence!! What had we to fear with this return match aganst the British Flag?


But the Flag very quickly showed why they have only lost one game this season (even if it was to us!). By the end of the Specialist questions the Wonderers were trailing 74/38 and made little headway in the General Knowledge losing that round 92/79. We found the questions for both Specialist and General Knowledge to be very good and do not blame them for our poor performance.

Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 6/12, Nick 9/12 and Tomo 6/21; conferred points were 8/10 and passovers (very telling!!) 0/6. The Flag had 24 conferred points and 22 passed over.

Final score was 166 to 117 - our dented pride soothed with excellent sandwiches and pie. An enjoyable evening.

4th March, Away To The Lamb

At full strength again, playing away at the Lamb in Sutton Lane Ends. there was some irony in that the questions had been set by the Church House in Bollington, probably mainly by Rick Davies who used to play for the Lamb when the team played under a different name.
The questions we thought were very good, especially the Specialist (see link at right) which were very different and innovative if perhaps a little hard (several rounds went by with no-one scoring a 3).
Bob returned to top form with what is probably a season's best and Tomo maintained his good run both justifying their position in the top 10 scorers of the B League. Personal scores were Bob 12/21, Wendy 9/9, Nick 6/12 and Tomo 3/21. In the Specialist we scored 5 conferrred points and picked up 7 passovers, in the General Knowledge 10 and 11 respectively. Unusually we gave away 8 passovers in the Specialist rounds but pulled it all together with just 2 in the General Knowledge. After what seems like the years of the locust, the Wonderers eventually won, the final score being 126 to 109.

A good quiz with lots of laughter was rounded off with a selection of sandwiches and chips with bread and butter.

Cup & Plate Round 3 26th February

Buoyant from last week's result (we didn't lose!) we swaggered confidently into the Tavern - everything was going for us: the full team, playing on home ground. Just one thing stood between us and moving on to the next round - The Dolphin from the A League. Hmmm.

The questions we thought were quite good (see link at right) and it is interesting to look at the scores round by round:

Round 1 The Dolphin 12, Wonderers 15
Round 2 The Dolphin 22 Wonderers 4
Round 3 The Dolphin 14, Wonderers 17
Round 4 The Dolphin 23 Wonderers 8
Round 5 The Dolphin 16 Wonderers 11
Round 6 The Dolphin 24, Wonderers 7

So in fact whilst the final score of 111 to 62 looks pretty damning, in fact the Wonderers won 2 of the six rounds which is quite creditable.

So we can now look forward to having a couple of Tuesdays off (subject to being question masters) - every cloud ....

The Dolphin were worthy winners and we wish them luck in the next round of the Cup.

19th Feb At Least We Didn't Lose

At home to The Three Crowns and back to our full strength with Wendy's return. Wendy, looking tanned, calm and confident after her holiday, was anxious to get stuck in and re-energise the team.The Specialist Questions were set by the George and Dragon and were challenging, wide-ranging, well-balanced and enjoyable. At the end of the Specialist the Wonderers were a nose in front with 56 to 47.

It was then the General Knowledge questions set by the Park Tavern; these highlighted the need for proper preparation - apparently they were not shown to the George & Dragon for vetting until 6:30 Monday night - far too late to make any changes; there were sloppy answers, errors (see for example question 44) and repeats that would have been weeded out had the G&D had a chance to vet them and far too many date questions with no leeway. With the notable exception of Tomo who seems to be on a roll they did not fall well for the Wonderers who saw their slender lead eaten away until the teams finished level on 118 each. Still no win for the Wonderers.

Individual scores Bob 6/9, Wendy 9/6, Nick 12/3 and Tomo 9/15; 22 points were gained from conferring and 21 from passovers.

A great comeback by the G&D and obviously Wendy will have to try harder!

And another thing ... I mentioned a couple of week ago comments the questions have elicited from distant parts; imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a San Francisco website that publishes the whole of this blog and parts of News & Views as comments!! The website can be found at http://technorati.com/blogs/nicksquiz.blogspot.com.

The evening finished with a fabulous supper of chips, sausage and onion gravy wrth bread & butter.

Just have to beat The Dolphin next week to stride forward to the next round of the cup. Maybe they'll be intimadated by the Californian website.

12TH FEBRUARY - QUESTIONMASTERS AGAIN

Since we were asking the questions set by The Dolphin there is not a great deal to report, but we can however supplement some remarks in last weeks posting. Tomo's remarkable score of 39 last week was the highest score in any of the Leagues - congratulations Tomo!! And yet we still lost!!

And a glance at News and Views (link on right) shows that the George and Dragon (to whom we lost) on actual points (i.e. not League points) scored this season would expect to be much higher in the table than they actually are - only two teams have scored more!!

Last week's Specialist questions as expected rated very badly in the question setters trophy.

Since we did not play this week we will slip down in the League and although we will then have a game in hand our chances for the hoped-for promotion are now very slim.

This week's questions were generally highly thought of and scored well.

Shrove (or should it be Shafted?) Tuesday

Away to the George & Dragon, a pub with a long history (at one time it was a school!) nestled above the town in Higher Hurdsfield. Their quiz team is a buoyant and laid-back group that has survived the crises and vicissitudes the pub has suffered in the past couple of years, and it is good to see it has now settled down.

The specialist questions had been set by The Albion, the lair of well-known quizzer Paul Beard (veteran of TV quizzes although his departure was sometimes rather premature) whose individual stamp was immediately recognised on the questions. They can be viewed by clicking on the link at right - a quick glance at the markings from other teams suggests that they will not be taking the question-master's trophy this year. There seems little point in asking questions with the hope that no-one will be able to answer them. Three rounds from the end, Nick had to be restrained from slitting his wrists.

The General Knowledge were set by the Harrington Academicals and were much better although at times it did seem that their fellow setters had influcenced them.

At the end of the Specialist, the Wonderers were just one point behind and looking forward to overtaking the home team with a better set of questions.

The Wonderers were once again without Wendy and again Eric stepped into the breech playing a strong game in the conferred questions, but it was not to be. Tomo played a great game scoring 15/24, Bob 9/6 and Nick 6/6 with conferred and passed over points being 7/3 and 16/10 - the home team gave little away.

The Wonderers were not even consistent - although they have lost the last few games, it has been by just a handful of points - this time they were trounced! The G&D on the other hand were not consistent either - it was their first win of the season! But no compalints - the home team's questions were as bad as the vsitors' - they were just better at answering them. A tough game and a worthy win by the G&D.

The final score was 118 to 102 after a game played with good humour, and spirits were lifted with a great spicy chillie con carne provided by the landlord.

29th January .- Looks Like We Peaked Too Soon

Away to The Plough, another long-standing team well-known to the Wonderers, now settled in at The Plough after some years as the Cricket Club.

The questions were well thought-out by The British Flag and newcomers to the League The Knot at Rushton, compiling their first set of questions.

If there is any criticism it is that some of the questions were too long! Once again, Nick's shocking memory for names was displayed when he was asked question 5 of round 8; at the beginning of the question he knew it was Kurt Waldheim, but by the time the question master had come to the end he'd forgotten it!!

The Wonderers were missing Wendy but Eric came along as substitute and played a strong game particularly on conferred questions. But the Wonderers seem to have peaked too early in the season, once again trailing by 6 points at the end of the specialist rounds (45/39); they battled back in the General Knowledge but only managed to claw back 4 points eventually losing by 2 points, 110 to 108. It is interesting that conferred and passed over points were very high (Specialist 13/2, General Knowledge 19/11) without which there would have been a much greater gap between us. Individual scores were Bob 9/12, Eric 3/3, Nick 3/12 and Tomo 9/12.

By way of compensation, or perhaps it's just spite, Nick can report an error in one of the answers to the previous round of the Cup/Plate, (Q118) about the birthplace of Mother Teresa; several people had challenged the given answer Yugoslovia (Nick added Skopje when he published the questions). She was born in 1910 but the kingdom of Yugoslavia was not formed until after WW1 in 1918.

And finally, it's surprising that our questions are provoking comments from all over the world - in particular see the comments for the questions of 7 March but also 21 and 27 November.

Excellent refreshments were provided at the end of a good-humoured and hard-fought game.

22nd Jan - Cup Game

Once again we faced the Harrington Arms - this time their B team in the Cup. Found them as friendly as the Academicals, played with good spirit with many laughs in a very close but enjoyable game.

The questions were tough but fairly balanced and the Wonderers were lucky to scrape through just 1 point clear after a great rally by the visitors. Final score 80 to 79.

Brian again had cooked one of his wonderful hams for refreshments and it was a most enjoyable evening.

15th Jan - Home to The Harrington Academicals

The Harrington is a wonderful old pub (until recently part of a working farm) frequently described as "The best pub in Cheshire". It is in the village of Gawsworth just outside Macclesfield. The team are well-known to us as a friendly bunch with a similar approach to the Wonderers - that a quiz night is fun.

However, they pulled no punches in last night's game dealing a blow to our promotion ambitions. We had had a shock earlier in the day when Wendy fell ill and were very lucky to be able to get Steve to cover for her. The specialist questions we thought were very good with a lot of thought having been put into them - in particular, the history picture round where we were shown a series of cartoons and had to identify the event in 2007. Even so we were trailing when the General Knowledge rounds started.

These however were very different: many seemd to based on the premise "They won't get this, ha ha!!"; several questions had been asked in recent quizzes; and again they were lop-sided with an easy question frequently being followed by an obscure one. Judge for yourself by following the link at right.

Having had a chance to read all the questions again, I now think this judgement is too harsh. Sorry.

The Wonderers played cautiously again hampered by Nick's failing memory (couldn't remember the title of "The Grapes of Wrath"!! He tried to cover this up with a joke from Alan Sherman -see end of this entry) and there were no high scorers. Bob 15/6, Steve 9/12, Nick 6/9 and Tomo 9/12. Conferred questions raised another 19 points but the Academicals passed little over and only 14 points were gained from their questions.

It was a game played with good spirit, won by a very good team and rounded off with an excellent spread of sandwiches in particular the ham cooked by landlord Brian only that morning.


With thanks to Alan Sherman:

The Ballad Of Harry Lewis(Parody of "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic")

I'm singing you the ballad
Of a great man of the cloth
His name was Harry Lewis
And he worked for Irving Roth
He died while cutting velvet
On a hot July the 4th
But his cloth goes shining on

Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
His cloth goes shining on

Oh Harry Lewis perished
In the service of his Lord
He was trampling through the warehouse
Where the drapes of Roth are stored
He had the finest funeral
The union could afford
And his cloth goes shining on

Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
His cloth goes shining on

Although a fire was raging
Harry stood by his machine
And when the firemen broke in
They discovered him between
A pile of roasted Dacron
And some french fried gabardine
His cloth goes shining on

Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
His cloth goes shining on

Away to The Baths

The Baths is an old Victorian pub (built 1875) standing silent testament to the old municipal baths that stood around the corner (now council offices). One of the few local pubs left in the town The Baths is known as a real ale pub.

The quiz team are well known to us as they moved from The Beehive following changes there - a very friendly bunch and good fun.

The Wonderers were jaded following their first defeat just before Christmas and the excesses of the holiday period and began cautiously - so much so that at the end of the specialist rounds they were trailing by 9 points and looking decidedly shaky. However they rallied in the General Knowledge round eventually slipping into the lead very late and scraping a close win with 115 to 111.

We were very impressed with the questions which were out of the ordinary and even the mandatory specialist had a novel twist - very different from run of the mill questions. In fact the Wonderers would not have won had there been none of the classical music questions.

Scores were not high except for Bob with 9/24, Wendy 6/9, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 15/9. And again the strength of the team in conferring is illustrated with 23 points and 18 passovers.

A most enjoyable evening ended with a fine selection of sandwiches - thankyou The Baths.

Another Bruiser

Tuesday 11th December, a home game against old adversaries The Cock . This was another game in which points were traded blow for blow; the Wonderers got off to a poor start and at the end of the Specialist were trailing by 15 points and were making desperate attempts to catch up for the rest of the evening. They were not helped by Nick's familiar problem with names, when he had a clear image of Andy Warhol in his mind and blurted out Hockney!!!

The questions were pretty good, but although we generally avoid whinging about balance we did think that they were rather lop-sided, especially in the General Knowledge where repeatedly a very easy question was followed by a much more difficult one - readers can judge for themselves from the link on the right.

Scores were not high with the exception of Bob who played a captain's game with 9/21, Wendy (6/12), Nick (0/18), and Tomo (6/12) all scoring 18.

Conferred points were high with 13 and 12 respectively, but very little was passed over with the Wonderers picking up just 6 and 5 from the two sets of questions.

The final score was 120 to the Wonderers and 123 to the Cock - a well-deserved win and a good well-fought game.

There is now a three-week rest for the Wonderers to lick their wounds and prepare for the second half of the season.

The British Flag 4th December

The British Flag is a Robinson's pub, well known for keeping its somewhat temperamental beer in top condition.

The Wonderers knew this was going to be a tough one - the Flag were unbeaten and have always been tough adversaries. No-one however expected it to be such a hard slug-it-out game. Very little was given away and the questions covered a very wide spectrum each point being fought for vigorously.

There seems to be an equally tough battle at the Ox-fford to get the Cars & Vans 4 U trophy for question setting - an outstanding set of questions were provided by the Ox-Fford C team that made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening, ably assisted by Jackie Hulme from The Cock as question master.

We send our condolences to the landlord of the Flag as a bereavement meant they were unable to be in attendance, but Nick and Bob managed to scramble back to the Tavern in time to nick some chip and sausage butties from their sister team.

The final score was 146 to the Wonderers, 143 to the Flag, individual scores being Bob 12/12, Wendy 9/24, Nick 9/21 and Tomo 9/15. In the specialist, the Wonderers picked up 11 conferred points and just 8 passed over. In the general knowledge rounds another 11 points were conferred with just 5 passed over; very little given away by either side!

The Cup - Sutton Church House

The first round of the Cup we played at the Sutton Church house, despite Nick sending out a note to the team that we would be playing at The Lamb - fortunately this was spotted in time (although Wendy had to get out of the bath to answer the urgent phone call!). The regular team is shown on their home turf.

The Church House is a very pleasant pub with 3 mainstream real ales, and the home team a very jolly lot.

The Wonderers got off to a very slow start, principally because the questions were badly balanced, but made up ground as the questions veered erratically with bias towards one team then the other (see the link at right). The questions were quite good but there were some pretty obvious ones (Northern Rock!). The eventual score was 96 to the Wonderers and 74 to the Church House.

The pleasant evening was rounded off with a good selection of sandwiches and chips.

20th November- Home to The Lamb

The lamb is a familiar team that we have played before, under their old guise The Sutton Club - they have crossed the road to The Lamb.

There was some anxiety that we would not have a full team and would need to play a beer mat (since ashtrays are no longer acceptable) but the vagaries of terms of employment for the Council meant Steve was able to cover for Wendy despite the original bleak forecast.

We started the evening in the rather surprising position of second in the League with a game in hand but did not allow ourselves to fall into a false sense of security.

This was fortunate as it was a very low-scoring game, with a lot of criticism of both sets of questions - as if the guiding principle had been "They won't get this one". They can be viewed from the link at right.

However, we did manage to finish in front with a final score of 125 to 99. Individual scores were Bob 6/6, Tomo 15/12, Nick 3/9 and Steve 9/24 - all below average scores. We also managed to scrape up 16 conferrred and 25 passovers.

Steve played a great game as reserve, but we're a bit worried about Tomo - his in-depth knowledge of daytime TV and board games suggest that he should get out more - but if he did we wouldn't win so often.

The brightest spot of the evening was a wonderful tray of sausages and onions with chips and bread and butter - grateful thanks to Brian and Tracey.

The Wonderers also felt that a reminder is due to the questionmasters about the time allowed to answer.

The Three Crowns

For the second game of the season we went to the Holt's pub The Three Crowns where we played familiar faces in an unfamiliar setting - the team recently moved from the St Dunstan.

The questions, set by the New Castle, were rather different and had some quite original rounds in the Specialist subjects. Both teams gave good marks for content and balance. See the link on the right.

The Wonderers managed to maintain their 100% record despite the liability of Nick's memory (among other things he could not remember the name Stephen King!!) - a fact reflected in the scores:

Bob 30, Wendy 24, Nick 18 (!!) and Tomo a very creditable 33. Points from passovers were 5 and 15 for the two rounds, and conferred points (mainly from Nick) 10 and 18. The final score was 153 to 114.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening played with humour and good spirit and rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches.

6th November Questionmasters

The second week of the season and the Wonderers are sitting proudly at the top of the B League - but not for long. This week they were the questionmasters for the B League team and set the specialist questions; General Knowledge questions were set by the Puss Artists. This was particularly difficult with only 2 weeks notice but heroic efforts by Tomo meant we met the deadline and the questions were delivered on time in neatly sealed envelopes. Fortunately Bob and Wendy had transport and were able to venture out into the wilds of Cheshire and cover the distant pubs in Gawsworth (the unforgettable Harrington Arms) and Sutton (The Lamb - a new venue for the Sutton Social Club team). In fact both sets of questions were very well received and got favourable marks by the teams. They can be viewed by clicking on the link at right.

Well, we now have a game in hand that will mask positions until the half-way mark.

October 30th - 1st Game of the Season

At last the season starts - and the first game is against the George & Dragon - a team that over the years the Wonderers have come to regard as their bete noir.

Steve had managed to rearrange his shifts and covered for Nick with Bob, Wendy and Tomo.

They had obviously recovered from losing the Plate Final as they stormed out from the beginning and ended with a remarkable win of 167 to 145 - all four members of the team scoring 30 or over (Steve 39, Wendy 36, Bob 33 and Tomo 30). And the George and Dragon scored highly too.

The questions were very highly rated and the Wonderers look forward to this season with confidence.

The questions can be viewed by following the link on the right.

At Last - The Final

The seconds are out, the gloves are off and the pints are pulled. Yes, it is the final of the Plate!!
The Wonderers felt somewhat apprehensive with memories of last year’s final when they lost on a tie-breaker – they needn’t have worried as history was not to repeat itself.
Question Master Rick Davies introduced the teams pointing out that this was the first smoke-free game ever in the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League, a point welcomed by many in attendance.
Sadly the fresh air seems to have fuddled the Wonderers and at the end of the first 20 questions they were some 15 points adrift. Subsequent rounds showed signs of a fight-back but by the end of the quiz they were still some 8 points behind.
Their opponents the Puss Artists were a very powerful team who played well and with good spirit – worthy winners indeed.
Special mention must be made of Rick Davies who was an excellent Question Master with a light tone but firm decisions. Thanks also to the Sutton Club and Harrington B teams who set the questions.
A most enjoyable evening with the Wonderers once again catching the bride’s bouquet.

Relegation Party

As the long wet summer dragged along, Tuesday nights saw a strange phenomenon in the streets of Macclesfield. Individuals in woolly cardigans, sandals and a profusion of face hair shuffled along the streets looking puzzled and confused. What has happened to the quiz nights?

Even the Wonderers were affected by this strange malady and to break the gloom Nick arranged to have a party to celebrate relegation to the B League where we rightfully belong.

Spirits were lifted (by the glass as well as morally) despite a rainy start to the day but mercifully there was a break in the clouds and we could all sit outside and join in with Steve's songs and marvel at Tomo's conjuring and mind-reading.

The team and reserves were all present along with Mark from Maliwan's Thai restaurant, Brian the landlord of the Waters Green Tavern with Anne, and some neighbours anf former colleagues of Nick. They were later joined by an intrepid group of walkers from the Greenwalks group, another Tavern-based organisation that focuses on public transport in its monthly walks. They seemed glad to have something to eat.

Roll on the final of the Plate.

End of the Season

Although the Wonderers played their last League game of the season, there was still one important event before the close of the season - the final of the Cup knock-out competition between the two teams from The Dolphin.

I will leave it to our highly regarded secretary Mark to sum up the evening and announce the various trophies, and would like to take this opportunity to thank him for a magnificent season's work, and for all his asistance on the occasions we have requested it. He does a truly great job.

"Folks,

Many thanks to all who attended the Finals Night last night. There was an excellent turn-out, the Cup Final was a very closely contested affair and the butties were very welcome too. I have only a small number of trophies left in my possession; I will contact the winners separately.

In respect of the Cup, the Dolphin beat the Dolphin Dragons 114 – 98. Congratulations to all concerned.

Thanks also to Rick Davis and Allan Sherratt for asking the questions and scoring respectively – much appreciated, your fine efforts added to the night’s entertainment as always.

We also presented a Special Award to Alan Hodgson from the Dolphin for his unique 60 out of 60 all the way back in Week 1. We might have set a precedent now, but as it is the first time in over 20 years it has happened, we shouldn’t be breaking the bank just yet.

Alan – well done indeed.

I have attached to this message the following:-

All the scores from the last week of games, Week 18
Final League Tables and Individual Scores for A, B and C Leagues
Final Cars and Vans 4U Ltd Question Setters Trophy scores
Cup Final questions from last night.

Every team has indicated to me they want to carry on next season and it would be good to find a couple more if anyone has any suggestions. Now would be a good time for any new people interested to perhaps “try out” a set of questions in a game against another team. I would be more than willing to supply a “hand-picked” set of questions if anyone wanted one!

The final trophy of this year will be settled at the start of next season as usual. The Plate Final will be: -

Puss Artists v Waters Green Wonderers

This game will be played at the AGM before the start of next season, sometime in September / early October, date and place to be confirmed.

The Sutton Club and the Harrington ‘B’ will assemble questions for this game from those not used for the Cup Final and I have handed all the material to the Sutton Club last night.

If I don’t see you before we start again, have a great summer and I will be in touch.

Regards,

Mark"

The questions for the final can be viewed by clicking on the link o the right.

So we start the next season as we did this - with the final of the Plate!!